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Sunday, 28 February 2010

Welcome to the Art With Heart Team Blog Hop! Who are the Art with Heart team? Led by Claire Daly there are over 80 demonstrators across Australia ... if you want to be come part of this great team just email me for more details. We have a great team forum, Business Building Club and heaps of support from like minded demonstrators.

This will be a monthly event happening on the last day of every month. You may have just come from Tanja Westwood's blog, but if you are starting here, don’t worry … you can make the complete journey just by following the links at the end of each post. There are 14 stops along the way and we hope you will visit each one to see the wonderful creations we have to show you! If you leave a comment on each and every blog and then email Nikki at nikki@inkyart.com.au, your name will be put into the hat to win some beautiful blog candy. There is a deadline of 72 hours to leave your comments and only non SU demos are eligible to win the candy - although we'd love all visitors to leave some comments please.

For our second tour we decided upon an Easter theme. At the end of each post there will be a link to take you to the next stop on the tour. It would be fantastic if you could leave a comment on each blog! So grab a cuppa, and set off on what we are hoping will be an inspirational journey!

I love giving little handmade gifts to people at Easter. It's so much more personal than just grabbing a box of chocolates off the shelf at the supermarket. Here are my creations:

All 3 were made with the same basic colours: Bashful Blue, Pretty In Pink, Lavender Lace, Barely Banana and Whisper White. These are fab colours for Easter.

These little bags are quick and easy to whip up and would be great for your children to give to their friends at Easter. The circular bag topper was recycled from the mini pizza box below:

The opening in the top was covered with acetate - the last thing you need would be for the eggs to fall out!

And finally a card to go with it all. The Barely Banana circle was also recycled from the opening in the mini pizza box - I hardly ever throw anything away!

Friday, 26 February 2010

I just thought I'd quickly pop in with my second 'guest designer' - my 4 year old daughter, Ada. She decided she wanted to make a card using my stamps and ink pads, specifically All In The Family and Chocolate Chip. Both obviously tickled her fancy!

I reckon she did a pretty good job! I didn't help her at all. I was quite impressed that she worked out that she needed 2 different arms. She also did a good job of lining up all the different parts even though they are pretty far apart. She asked me for the 'neck part' at one point, so that must have been the reason she left such a big gap.

My 5 year old Niece rang me earlier in the week to tell me that after 3 weeks at school she could read now. She was very excited to tell me all about it, so I decided to make her a card to let her know how proud I was of her. The sketch at Card Patterns Challenge #52 seemed perfect.

I changed the 2 big squares to look like a book (hopefully!) and the little squares were changed to look like gold stars that a teacher might give out for excellent work. I stamped the alphabet underneath to make it look a bit more 'schooly'.

This week the challenge over at Swap Sisters was to make a card that used both a nature image and a 3D object from nature. Hmmm. I tried leaves and grasses, but I wasn't producing anything I was really happy with. Then I thought I'd try some little twigs.

Straight edges on the stamped panel didn't look right so I tore them instead - much better!

Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Just a reminder that the Art With Heart Easter Blog Hop is on this Sunday from 6am. There will be 14 blogs to hop around and if you leave a comment on all of them you'll be in the running for some fab blog candy (non demo's only). You only have 72hours from the start of the hop to comment to be in the running though!

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Yep! That's me, bottom right. I made the Super 6 at Card Patterns for the second time. Yay me!

In some other exciting news I am taking part in my first ever Blog Hop as a blogger, not a hopper. It's for the Art With Heart monthly Blog Hop on the last day of every month. This month's theme is Easter, so pop back on the 28th from 6am to get lots of inspiration for your Easter projects. You could also win some fab blog candy.

Monday, 22 February 2010

I've been enjoying the challenges over at Just Add Ink, but I must admit this week's challenge almost had me running for the hills. The challenge was to Just Add Dimension. Argh! A 3D project.

I was keen to enter, but I didn't want to just rehash someone else's idea. I've been mulling over this since the challenge went up. Hopefully this is original. I don't believe I've seen anyone else make one, but I could be wrong (if I am, please let me know so I can give credit)! This is what I came up with:

Last night I was in the mood for scrapping, so I decided to work on a layout for the latest Stamp A Memory Challenge. This time Claire challenged us to: Create a layout in Black and White plus one other colour of your choice.

I've had the photo I used in mind for a layout for a while, and this one seemed the perfect opportunity. I decided not to use another colour as I wanted the main focus to be the photo. In the end though, I used silver embossing powder for the little whale, which I raised on dimensionals.

The journalling reads: Hudson loves splashing in the pool at Hydrotherapy. We go every Tuesday during the term. Sometimes Rob is able to go, and this is when Hudson has the most fun.

Sunday, 21 February 2010

I finally got a chance to do some crafting last night. Hubby was out for work, all three children were asleep and my time was all my own. Yay! I put Dirty Dancing on to watch and settled in to make a card for Stampin' Royalty Challenge #7: make a masculine card. The timing of this challenge was perfect, as it is my brother-in-law's birthday next week.

I'd received a set of Stampin' Pastels in my starter kit, so I decided to give them a whirl. I was a bit nervous, as I'd never used them before. I used Chocolate Chip for the trunk and also dabbed it in a few places in the tree to give the effect of branches peeking through. I used a combination of Sage Shadow and Really Rust for the foliage. I was really pleased with the soft effect the pastels created. I'll definitely be using the pastels again.

Last night I decided to have a got at the sketch challenge over at Mojo Monday.

I often check out Gardenia's blog, A Little Less Useless. Lately she's been doing some paper pieced cards and she's inspired me to have a go too. Go on over and check out her blog - she's got a free pass to the next UStamp with Dawn up for grabs!

For this card I pieced the flower from For Everything using the current Hostess DSP for the leaves and some Regal Rose card stock for the flower, which I also raised using Dimensionals.

Thursday, 18 February 2010

Last week I was invited to join a group called Swap Sisters. They do weekly challenges and share lots of ideas and techniques. This week's challenge was to use bleach on a card.

This card has a touch of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe artwork. It was one of those cards where I just started stamping before I had an idea of where I was going with the card. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I'm a bit over hearts at the moment, so I decided to use butterflies instead.

Another pretty quick and simple card. I actually made the circular section the previous night as I was going to use it for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #56 but I couldn't get it to work on that sketch. I think it works a treat on this one though. Lucky I don't throw things out!

I coloured the image with blender pens and raised it on dimensionals after cutting it out. I also stamped the happy birthday sentiment several times on each Summer Sun panel in Summer Sun ink to give a subtle effect.

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

I'll show you my card for Makeesha's challenge soon - but first some big news. My youngest son Hudson, who's 2 1/2 and has multiple disabilities, took his first steps along the lounge (cruising) last night! It was only 2 steps, but for me that's just like Neil Armstrong's first steps onto the moon - a massive event! Just thought I'd share my 'proud mummy' moment.

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Last night I decided to make another wedding card so that I could give my mother in law a choice of cards for the wedding she is going to this weekend. I made one previously using Mojo Monday's Sketch #125. Stampin' Royalty Challenge #6 is "to create a project using a Love/Valentines Theme". Perfect for a wedding card!

The rub on sentiment reads 'May your life be richly blessed'. I cased the card from page 48 of Stampin' Up's 09/10 Idea Book and Catalogue. Apologies again for the not so great photo, I'm still having problems with cameras.

Monday, 15 February 2010

My two older children are at school/preschool this morning, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to whip up a card for Just Add Ink Challenge #4. I'm not usually one to 'just whip up a card' as I'm very much a planner. This time though I was so inspired by lots of different card makers that have made cards with the SAB set Happy Moments that it was easy to do. JAI's challenge is a colour challenge this week.

Interesting colours! I haven't used Sage Shadow or More Mustard before, so it was extra challenging - just the way I like it!

I wanted to keep the card ultra simple, and I think I achieved that. Apologies for the bad photo - I had to take it on my mobile as both of my cameras are deciding to play up.

Sunday, 14 February 2010

One of my very good friends, who just happens to live next door, came over on Friday night to make her lovely hubby a Valentine's Day card. We get together occasionally to get creative and always have lots of fun. It occurred to me later that Stampin' Royalty's Challenge #6 is a love theme, so I asked her if she'd like to submit her card. She was keen so here it is:

Most of the supplies are Stampin' Up, except for the ribbon, brad and heart paper. The heart paper had a great texture and when Lisa tore it the edges went really soft and fuzzy. You can see this in the middle picture.

Not a great few days of creativity lately. I've had a cold and it's difficult to get creative when you're coughing and spluttering. My parents in law are off to a wedding next week and asked me to make a card. I thought I'd use Mojo Monday Sketch #125 as a springboard.

Here's my card:

I wanted a soft, romantic look for the card. I layered vellum over the En Francais Background Stamp to soften part of the design. The Rose is watercoloured and raised on dimensionals. I hope they like the card. I had been told the couple were quite religious, but I don't have anything religious in my stash so I went for romantic instead.

Friday, 12 February 2010

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Claire Daly set Stamp A Memory Challenge #3 as a love theme. I had been wanting to do a layout about my husband for a while, so this seemed the perfect opportunity. The prize, most appropriately, is a heart shaped punch.

Here's my layout:

This layout took a few days to put together for various reasons. I wanted it to be secret until I was finished, so I had limited time to do it. I was also waiting for my SAB order to come in, and the Crystal Effects on the chipboard word 'you' needed to dry. I just scraped into the challenge deadline by 12 hours. Phew!

I coloured the words I, love and you so that at first glance that's what the title seems to be. I wrote the ten reasons I love my husband in each of the curly label punchies. The box at the bottom right took a bit of time as each line of text is from a different stamp. Thank heavens for stamp positioners - I wouldn't have been able to do this layout without mine. The text reads: for everything you do (For Everything ss) i'm ever grateful (2 different stamps in the So Many Sayings ss).

Wednesday, 10 February 2010

I got lots of card making done yesterday once it cooled off a little. It was a real stinker in Adelaide yesterday. Today too! I wanted to give the latest challenge at The Sweetest Thing a go.

Sometimes when I look at a sketch the 'right' stamp just jumps into my head and the card just falls into place. Other times I have to browse through my stamps before I find the 'right' stamp. This card was one such card. To my surprise the 'right' stamp ended up being the Christmas Tree from Snow Swirled. Yes - you did read right - a Christmas card in February! Sometimes you've just gotta go where the mojo is taking you.

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

I had lots of quiet time to get some crafting done today, as my older children were at school or preschool and my youngest was in occasional care for the morning then sleeping this afternoon. It was too hot to do too much, but I did manage to get a card done for Makeesha Byl's Inkspirations Challenge. This week it is a sketch:

Here is my card:

I'm still playing with last year's SAB stamps, as I just won them as blog candy. I'm loving this little flower from Botanical Blooms. I stamped the flower in Lovely Lilac, then I inked up the second step stamp with Lovely Lilac but stamped it off once before stamping it in place. I also sponged each of the panels.

A week or so ago I was lucky enough to win some blog candy over at Sue's Stampin' Designs. Sue was giving away a brand new, unmounted set of last year's Sale A Bration stamps. I didn't 'discover' Stampin' Up until after last year's SAB, so I was thrilled to have won. I got them in the mail yesterday, so last night I got my first chance to have a play with them. I thought I'd use two of the sets to have a go at the latest challenge at Just Add Ink, which happened to be a sketch challenge.

Here is my card:

I'm loving the Old Olive panel, but I'm not sure about the Linen background. I think I should have gone tone on tone for it. Next time! I don't have many inkpads, so instead of sponging around the panels I used the side edge of my marker and ran it around the side of the card stock. It is quite obvious on the round Whisper White panel, but a lot more subtle on the Old Olive Panel. I thought it would give a little definition to the edges.

Monday, 8 February 2010

I struggled a bit for ideas this week for Mojo Monday's 124th challenge. Not sure why, but I think it was the two boxes on top. After a bit of blog surfing I saw Melissa's invitation on her blog Bee Divine Designs, which I visit regularly. Her lovely design got the old brain ticking over again. Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I'm quite pleased with it. I like the bold Circle CIrcus images stamped with Basic Black ink. My husband will be sending it off to one of his best mates for his birthday.

Saturday, 6 February 2010

I'm going to a very good friend's birthday party tonight. I love giving hand made presents so I thought I'd have a go at making her a stamped candle. I've seen these everywhere. The fifth challenge at Stampin' Royalty is Anything But A Card. I've already entered my mini flippy album, but I thought I may as well enter my candle too.

You basically stamp your image on tissue paper, trim it, then lay it on your candle in position. You then put waxed paper over the top and use your heat gun to 'melt' the tissue paper into the candle. I own a little "Hand made by Tina" stamp so I also included it on the back of the candle. The whole thing took about 10 minutes to make, but I reckon it looks fantastic. I can see myself making more for gifts this year!

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About Me

I'm a stay at home mum with 3 children. I started scrapbooking in 2009 and cardmaking not long after. In February 2010 I signed up as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Please contact me to place your order: tinag.blog@gmail.com

Disclaimer and Copyright

All content is the sole responsibility of Tina Gillespie, Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and the use of and content of the classes, services and products offered on this website is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!. Some stamped images on this site are copyright Stampin' Up! 1990 - 2019. Designs on this site are copyright Tina Gillespie unless otherwise attributed. All designs and tutorials are for your personal inspiration only.